Solar cells, also known as “photovoltaic cells,” are well known devices for converting solar radiation to electrical energy. They may be fabricated on a semiconductor wafer using semiconductor processing technology. A solar cell includes P-type and N-type diffusion regions. Solar radiation impinging on the solar cell creates electrons and holes that migrate to the diffusion regions, thereby creating voltage differentials between the diffusion regions. In a backside contact solar cell, both the diffusion regions and the metal contact fingers coupled to them are on the backside of the solar cell. The contact fingers allow an external electrical circuit to be coupled to and be powered by the solar cell.
A solar cell may be characterized by its IV curve, which is a plot of the solar cell's output current for a given output voltage. The IV curve is indicative of the performance of the solar cell. FIG. 1 shows example IV curves of a solar panel, which comprises a plurality of interconnected solar cells mounted on the same frame. The IV curves of FIG. 1 show current-voltage characteristics with dependence on solar insolation and temperature of the solar panel.
Solar cell IV curves of a solar panel may be manually generated by technicians using appropriate test equipment. Typically, a technician may measure output current and voltage of a solar panel to get IV curves for the solar panel for that particular time of day. To generate IV curves for a new solar installation, which may comprise hundreds of solar panels, several technicians are needed for several days. After installation, new IV curves for the solar installation may need to be periodically generated to verify the performance of the solar panels in accordance with contractual obligations. The new IV curves are again manually generated by technicians.